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Shareholder Report 2013 For personal use only Contents Financial Snapshot (As at 30 June 2013) 1 Chairman’s Report 38,955,103 2 Managing Director’s Report Shares on Issue ________________________________________ 6 The Board of Directors 159.8 cents 9 About Lycopodium Net tangible assests per share ________________________________________ 13 Project Reviews $245.9 million 26 Financial Information Revenue ________________________________________ 28 Shareholder Information $22.5 million 29 Corporate Directory Net profit after tax ________________________________________ 56.5 cents Earnings per share after tax ________________________________________ 36.0 cents Dividend per share (fully franked) ________________________________________ For personal use only Chairman’s Report My name is Mick Caratti. I am one of the founders and presently chairman of Lycopodium. This publication is designed to introduce you to the company, telling you who we are, what we do and how we see our future. This report does not replace the statutory financial statements but is designed to provide an informative insight into Lycopodium in an easier to read layout. Lycopodium has performed well across our subsidiaries in We also do not see this solely in a negative light, as the 2012/2013 and we achieved a second consecutive year of worldwide demand for new production capacity stretched the record returns. However the outlook for 2013/2014 has been resources of suppliers, engineers and owners. A lower level of strongly affected by the downturn in the minerals industry. activity will raise standards which have slipped as evidenced by the number of cost and schedule overruns in recent times. As per prior years I would like to provide some thoughts on the major trends that affect our industry as we see them. The Board has taken the view that since the point at which sentiment changes and activity begins to rise cannot be • The decline in commodity prices has continued through predicted our first priority is to protect the core staff by 2012/2013, joined by gold in late 2012 even though it had maintaining a flow of work so that Lycopodium is well previously seemed immune to the decline in other metals. positioned when the turn around does occur. Our conservative The decline seems to have slowed/flattened post the end of approach has left us with no debt and has put us in a good the financial year though it is too early to tell whether this is position to remain competitive and profitable should metal a lasting effect. prices not recover quickly. • There have been few new minerals projects committed in Australia in the period though this has been masked The above discussion seems out of place at the end of another to a degree by ongoing work to complete previously record profit year but that is the cyclic nature of our industry. committed major projects and ongoing oil and gas projects. I commend the staff, managers and directors of Lycopodium • The major miners have all announced reductions in capital and its subsidiaries who have produced this result. expenditure and cancelled or placed projects in hold. I hope you find the following information of interest and if you • Junior miners have been unable to raise funds for have any questions please call me. exploration or development making it difficult for them to commit even to robust projects. The critical question for Lycopodium is how long will activity remain at its current low level. Lycopodium has been fortunate to have ongoing work on projects, which have produced a record year and this work will carry over into the beginning of 2013/2014. Additionally our minerals segment has secured a major new project to help underpin the forecast for 2013/2014. M J Caratti We do not expect activity to materially increase until there has Chairman been a consistent strengthening in metal prices and it will then take time for projects to go through the feasibility study and financing cycle before they are committed for development. We therefore expect a relatively slow turn around when it does happen. This occurred after the GFC following a much shorter correction period. For personal use only 1 Managing Directors Report On behalf of the Board of Directors I am pleased to report a strong result for the 2012/13 financial year, replicating the prior year’s record operating result. The result reflects the peak in construction and commissioning year, each of these projects will be completed in the first half of activities prevailing across the major projects and the strong the current financial year. demand for our services across the group. Our minerals workload remains balanced across a range of commodities, Equivalent greenfield EPCM opportunities have not yet been notably copper, gold, nickel and iron ore, and includes both secured to replace these major projects, resulting in a shortfall domestic and international projects. in revenue opportunities. Our core strategy continues to concentrate on the delivery On the positive side, we are extremely pleased to announce of EPCM consulting services. This focus has enabled the the award of detailed design services in relation to the company to develop a world class capability in delivering processing plant and selected infrastructure for First Quantum both small and large projects for domestic and international Minerals’ world class, Cobre Panama Project. This extends companies. Our aim with this strategy is to consistently our long term association with First Quantum Minerals and deliver quality and value in all aspects of our clients’ projects. represents our first project in the region. Lycopodium enjoys a strong repeat client base as a result of this singular focus on project excellence. We also note that the demand for technical services across our offices is showing some early signs of improvement. These Full Year Results improvements relate to operational efficiency and optimisation During the financial year ended 30 June 2013, Lycopodium services, which in time should translate into brownfield realised revenues of $246 million, a 6% increase on the EPCM opportunities. $232 million in the previous financial year. Net profit after tax At this point in time we have updated our guidance, but believe was $22.5 million, as compared to $22.3 million in the previous a range is more appropriate given the reduced visibility coming financial year, a 1% increase. The minor reduction in gross margin reflects the tightening of market conditions being into this financial year. Our guidance for the 2013/14 financial largely offset by the recovery of prior year tax losses and the year reflects revenues of $140-170 million and a net profit after full year’s equity accounting of the profit component of our 50% tax of $11.4-13.8 million. We will continue to actively monitor owned Pilbara EPCM joint venture. our forecasts, particularly given the range in revenues and anticipated lower margins. Basic earnings per share were 57 cents. The Directors have resolved to pay a final dividend of 21 cents fully franked Operational Highlights reflecting the strong profit result. The total dividend for the year is 36 cents fully franked as compared to 33 cents in the As noted, this year has been highlighted by peak construction prior year. and commissioning activities across the group on a large number of projects. Outlook Provided below are updates for a number of representative As previously advised, there are strong headwinds in our projects across the group, commencing with the three major sector and the demand for Lycopodium’s services in 2013/14 projects which have been reported on previously. is anticipated to be lower than in the past two financial years. The reduction in demand is attributable to the following dynamics: • Lower commodity prices across a wider range of commodities, which now includes gold. • Major mining companies belt tightening across their operations, optimising existing assets and limiting capital expenditure to brownfield optimisations rather than major greenfield project developments. • Junior mining companies finding it difficult to raise capital For personal use only for studies and projects. • The manufacturing sector continuing its decline within Australia. • Increasing competition between service providers, increasing appetite for risk, as well as lowering margin expectations. Coupled with the dynamics above, our three major projects - Tropicana, Akyem and Marandoo - are nearing construction completion and commissioning activities are in progress. Whilst these have insulated Lycopodium through the past financial 2 Shareholder Report 2013 22.4 22.5 36.0 33.0 245.9 232.3 30.0 17.1 27.0 16.0 25.0 25.0 14.1 169.8 12.4 146.8 120.5 120.3 08 09 10 11 12 13 08 09 10 11 12 13 08 09 10 11 12 13 Revenue ($ Millions) Net profit after tax ($ Millions) Dividends (Cents) • The Akyem Project in Ghana West Africa for Newmont is • A crushing plant upgrade was constructed and handed nearing construction completion and commissioning is in over to the Hidden Valley Operations in Papua New Guinea progress. The majority of the project infrastructure has been as part of the debottlenecking and improvement activities. handed over to Newmont’s operations and the main focus is The Hidden Valley Operations is a joint venture between now on the commissioning of the main process plant. In July Newcrest Mining and Harmony Gold. 2013 permanent grid power was energised and first ore was put through the primary crusher and onto the overland • Construction and commissioning were successfully conveyor. These represent the first major commissioning completed ahead of schedule and under budget for the milestones associated with the process plant. Introduction greenfield Bissa Gold Project in Burkina Faso on behalf of of ore into the balance of the processing plant is forecast to Bissa Gold SA. occur within the 1Q of the new financial year.